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Sunday, June 19, 2011

This is a "wolf spider" from the family Lycosidae. It has the distinctive eye arrangement of that family, which is actually kind of similar to the jumping spider family's.

I think it might belong to the genus Pardosa, but it's one of those that would need to be seen up-close and under a microscope to confirm that. I've seen one similar looking species that I know does occur in Vermont, which is Pardosa fuscula, but there are so many species of Pardosa that I could be way off. Definitely would have to see this one magnified to tell for sure. Here's what a Pardosa fuscula looks like: http://bugguide.net/node/view/416797/bgimage.

It's a pretty great photo despite the fact it wouldn't hold still for you! I can't see either one of its pedipalps to tell for sure, but I bet it's a male on account of the smaller abdomen.

Wolf spiders are like jumping spiders in that they hunt "on foot" rather than building a web.